Building Something in Winter
by Clara Barton
Summary: Duo attempts to bring some holiday cheer into his and Wufei's lives. A short Christmas fic for maevemauvaise!


A Christmas snippet for Maevemauvaise, who requested something with Wufei!

(I'm sorry it's so short! Running out of time before Christmas!)

Pairings: 2x5

Warnings: angst, language, fluff

**Building Something in Winter**

"You're doing it wrong."

Duo looked up from the ball of snow he had been rolling.

Wufei had deigned to come outside, and now stood on the front porch, a steaming mug of tea in one hand, the other shoved into the pocket of his jeans, a disdainful look on his face.

Duo rolled his eyes.

"Oh yeah? There some ancient Chinese proverb on making a snowman you want to share with me."

Wufei sneered and it was clear he was trying to decide just how snarky to let his comeback be.

"It doesn't take the wisdom of several millenias to tell that you are doing that wrong."

Duo sighed.

"Then how, on master of all wisdom and in particular all wisdom pertaining to snowmen, do I properly do this?"

Wufei sniffed and took a sip of his tea, his chin at that haughty angle that he knew Duo hated.

He was baiting him, waiting for Duo to ask politely.

But Duo wasn't interested. For the past month, as Duo methodically decorated their apartment with candles in their windows, with a sad, scraggly tree that he had rescued from the reject pile at a tree yard, with stockings on the mantle over their gas fireplace, Duo had had to combat Wufei's negativity. The man hated Christmas, passionately, and all of Duo's attempts to turn their house into a festive home had been met with insults and sneers.

Last night it had snowed and while Duo had pretty strong feelings about snow that related to a mission in Canada a few years ago, he had been excited to see the white blanketing their yard.

He hadn't been surprised when Wufei refused to come out and help him build a snowman, and he wasn't particularly surprised by the fact that Wufei was standing on the porch being an asshole about it now.

But he was very, very done with it.

So he scooped up a ball of snow and packed it into a hard, tight ball, and slung it at Wufei.

Wufei hadn't been expecting it, and he didn't have the time to react or dodge before the ball hit him square on the chest.

He stumbled backwards and spilled his tea all over his sweater and jeans.

And then he looked up at Duo with murder in his eyes.

Shit.

Duo rose to his feet, a little unsteady in the snow, and he started to run, but Wufei must have _jumped_ from the porch to be able to tackle him.

He landed hard, face first, in the snow and felt all of his breath leave his body in a cold, painful rush.

He tried to roll, but Wufei's weight was a solid, merciless force on his back.

Duo reached back blindly, swinging his left arm, and it connected with the side of Wufei's face. Duo grabbed hold of his hair and pulled hard.

Wufei hissed but he lost his balance and Duo pulled him off and shoved him into the snow beside him.

Wufei glared at him and when Duo planted a palmful of snow on his face he sputtered angrily and then his hands went for Duo's throat.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Duo choked out.

"What the hell is wrong with _you_?" Wufei shouted back, his face red.

Duo punched at his hands and then grabbed his wrists.

"You're acting like a child," Wufei hissed.

"Me?" Duo finally just punched Wufei in the stomach and he fell away with a grunt.

Duo scrambled to his feet.

"I'm not the one who went psycho over a _snowball_."

Wufei stood up as well, his clothes soaked with tea and snow, his hair a mess and his face red from the cold.

"No, you're the one _decorating_ our home with this inane bullshit that you don't even believe in."

They stood in the yard glaring at each other, breathing heavily, and then Duo noticed Wufei was shivering.

He sighed.

"Come on. Let's go inside and get you in warm clothes."

Wufei looked ready to protest, looked on the verge of just stripping off his clothes and standing in the snow naked, but Duo pulled his trump card.

"And get you more tea."

Angry at the reminder of his earlier, spilt tea, Wufei turned on his heel and marched back into the house.

Duo followed, picking up the mug of tea on his way in.

He set his boots by the door and stripped out of his jacket, gloves and hat before going further into the house.

He found Wufei in their bedroom, completely naked, pulling dry clothes out of the bureau.

Duo walked up behind him and Wufei stiffened when Duo leaned his forehead against the back of his neck.

"You're right," Duo said, "I don't believe in any of this inane bullshit."

"Then why are you doing it?" Wufei demanded.

Duo swallowed hard, around the words, the memories, the emotions.

Wufei turned and nudged his head up until Duo was looking into his eyes.

"What?" The anger was gone from Wufei's voice.

Duo shrugged one shoulder and turned away.

"No - don't do that," Wufei snapped, some of the anger coming back.

"It's nothing. You're right. It is just bullshit. It doesn't matter. I'll take it all down and just -"

"Tell me why you did it," Wufei said, his teeth gritted and eyes narrowed.

Duo sighed.

"Because it's… normal. It's what people _do_. They buy a house and they decorate it and they celebrate stupid Terran holidays that don't mean anything and they build snowmen and they have hot chocolate and… and they put up a tree."

Wufei stared at him in silence long enough that Duo started to blush, started to regret saying anything at all.

Eventually, Wufei sighed and he started to dress, putting on two sweaters and thicker pants and socks.

"Come on," Wufei growled. "Let's go and build your snowman properly at least."

Duo caught his hand as Wufei started to walk past him.

Wufei twined their fingers together and squeezed.

"I refuse to drink your hot chocolate, but I can have another cup of tea while you drink it. After we build your snowman."

"Thank you, Wufei."

Wufei released his hand.

"I love you too, Duo."


End file.
